Tasting menu opus

I'm sitting here pondering a tasting menu that I will probably never do, but don't want to lose the ideas so I will write them down, have someone steal them and make them and call them their own and get rich and famous for it and I'll still be here writing a run-on sentence with no forseeable end. End. Here's my imaginary (for now) tasting menu in 9 courses. Amuse bouche: A cold seared scallop lollipop wrapped in yuzu gelee inset with chive in a pomegranate molasses. Dish number 2: Spoon of spicy ahi tuna brunoise in mustard oil. Course three: Green and white asparagus salad topped with baby greens in 4-citrus vinaigrette. Intermezzo: Mango and bourbon granita. Course five: Some kind of red meat. This is the course I'm currently at odds with. We'll come back to this one later, or I'll willingly consider any suggestions. Course six: Baked breast of squab on crispy basil chips with a chardonnay sauce. Cheese course: 3 cheese course consisting of some kind of chevre, a cow's milk, and a sheep's milk cheese served with candied citrus peels. Dessert course: Mini white chocolate bread puddings served with rum and caramel sauce. Mignardise: A droplet of cognac-ganache suspended in a cube of champagne gelee dusted with sugar. Some would argue that the Amuse-bouche, intermezzo, and mignardise do not constitute a course since they are typically left off the printed menu making that actually a six-course menu. I however call it nine and would say so the printed menu where it only showed the six primary courses. This is assuming I would even state the items on the menu. This particular menu tells a story as well as leads the patron on a topographical journey. It starts at the bottom of the sea with scallop and then moves into the middle of the ocean with the tuna. It then moves onto land with the salad and from there into land beast with "some kind of red meat", wow, I'm really stuck here. It then moves into the air with the squab...yes, a pigeon, a flying rat, whatever. It moves back down to land with the cheese, and then the bread pudding, and comes full circle with the common element of a gelee at the end. This is quite an ambitious menu and hope one day to produce it. This is what I think of as I'm laying in bed trying to sleep. Now, I can probably fall asleep if I try. We'll know if I can't if there's another entry within an hour or so of this one. Goodnite. Find me a meat dish!

Turn and Burn

We did just under 400 covers for Valentine's Day last night. This is just about double our average number of covers. It was probably easier than most nights too. I think it was mainly due to our total over-prepping of mise en place, and the fact that we were operating on a special prix fixe menu. Our pantry station only had to deal with two salads, and two desserts, plus the occasional kid's sundae or split. Easy night. The restaurant next to us had something like 900 reservations. Don't know if all 900 showed, but either way, that would not be fun. We had two proposals in our place, both took place during dessert, of course. I'm assuming both said yes. I didn't hear any gossip from the waitstaff that told me otherwise. All in all, it was a pretty good night.

Recipe for Limoncello

My freezer is filled with fifths of Limoncello and "Orange-cello''. For those of you unfamiliar with limonello here's a brief description. Lemon liqueur of Italian origin. What it essentially is is vodka infused with lemon essence sweetened with simple syrup. I've been trying to find an Italian name for the same liqueur but where orange replaces the lemon. How to make it:
12 lemons, 2 - 750ml bottles of good 100 proof vodka, 1 cup sugar (granulated), 1 cup water. (Note: the water and sugar will be used as simple syrup and can be made ahead of time and stored as it will be introduced to the vodka after several days.) -- Remove zest only from lemons (no pith), place zest into one (1) of the bottles of vodka and store in cool, dry, dark place for 2 weeks. The oils will be leached out of the zest from the alcohol. After two weeks, remove the zests. I find that filtering the vodka through a coffee filter into a large bowl works best in removing most of the unwated particles from the liquid. Combine the "lemon vodka" with the second bottle and the simple syrup (1 cup water plus 1 cup sugar). Re-bottle the liqueur. Note also that you now have more liquid than bottles. Having extra empty vodka (clean) bottles on hand comes in handy. Liqueur must be given time to marry all the flavors and sugars. This is best done in the freezer for at least another week. This makes great holiday gifts (NOT FOR KIDS) or when visiting dinner parties with friends. The orange version of this liqueur is done the same way but with 4-6 oranges, not 12. I'll be trying it with limes as soon as I make room in the freezer. By the way, if anyone knows what the orange liqueur would or should be called, please let me know.